LONGEVITY | Secrets from a Centenary
My Grandmother reached 100 years old,
why shouldn't we?
Dear Sorate Friends,
I'm Silvia Mella, founder of Sorate.
In this email I would like to share a personal conversation with my grandmother,
who reached 100 years old just a few days ago.
I was unsure if such a personal conversation was going to be criticized like I'm trying to monetize from my grandmother's personal achievement.
But, my goal here is just to share what I have learned and I hope this can inspire you as much as it has inspired me while listening to her story.
The reason why I have started Sorate is to help people improve their life and health through the tea plant, which is considered a Life's Elixir for Longevity.
My Grandmother did not drink Japanese Green Tea in her early years,
but she is doing so now that I have brought it to her and that is not far away from her usual habits and rituals that brought her to achieve such a life milestone.
I offered her some Genmaicha Tea and then we started talking deeply, as we actually never did before.
Don't forget your roots, remember that they led you where you are now.
With Gratitude,
Silvia
HOW DO YOU THINK YOU REACHED 100 YEARS OLD?
Who me 100? (laughing).
I think my luck comes from what I ate throughout my life.
Healthy food from local producers and farmers, small portions and a half glass of red wine.
During the second world war I was a teenager, apparently teenagers should eat the most to help their growth. But we didn't have that option. Luckily.
Leaving the table with a little bit of hunger is key for the body. We are not pigs, we should not stuff ourselves.
War was right outside our home, and there wasn't the option of supermarkets, restaurants or groceries stores, so what we ate was grown and made inside our home.
WERE YOU SCARED OF THE WAR?
Of course! Especially when we were hearing bombs not too far away from us.
WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN YOU WERE HEARING THE BOMBS?
We would run on the opposite side of where the sound came from. And we were singing to keep us uplifted and positive. Singing was the only way we had to try to forget what was happening outside, and cheered us up.
WHAT WERE YOU SINGING?
Anything that came to our mind. But the song "Bella Ciao" was what we were really thinking at those moments.
It's a raw song that says words of hope, also in case someone of us was going to die :
"And every hour that we pass here
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
and every hour that we pass here
we lose our youth.
But the day will come when us all
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
but the day will come when we all
will work in freedom."
HOW MANY BOMBS DID YOU PERSONALLY HEAR DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR?
I don't know, too many.
DURING WAR YOU GOT TYPHUS, A VERY STRONG VIRUS AND DESEAS, WHICH YOU SURVIVED, BUT MOSTLY DID NOT.
HOW WAS THAT?
It was horrible, I was sick in bed for 6 months. Fever, pain all over.
It was also the first time that my mom called the doctor for me. I was dying so it was necessary.
Doctors always bring bad news, so I never liked them.
BESIDE THAT TIME YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN A DOCTOR BEFORE?
Medicines were expensive and when one of us had a headache or something simple like that, we were using natural remedies, made with herbs or just resting and sleeping.
AFTER THE. WAR, WHAT WAS YOUR LIFESTYLE? WHAT DID YOU DO?
If you are asking me if I was doing Yoga like you do, not at all.
I was keeping myself fit by moving sacks full of cement for the men that were rebuilding everything that was destroyed: bridges, houses, monuments, roads, everything has to be redone. That was my workout.
Also there were no bars and clubs or theaters, everything was destroyed. So we would meet all together and pray. I was never very religious, but churches were an excuse for us young people where we could meet and chat between us. It was our leisure time.
YOU HAD 4 KIDS, WHAT IS THE MAIN THING YOU THINK YOU TAUGHT THEM?
Knowledge for me was always very important.
I wanted to study, but I couldn't, and to not know something or not be prepared to respond or have a conversation about something with someone was always my biggest fear.
When you know things, you have a point of view and you can have opinions.
I feel that people think that there is always time to work, but never to learn. And this is so wrong. You always have to learn, even at 100 years old.
